The adaptive reuse of the 1931 United University Church (C. Raimond Johnson) transformed of the existing historic church into a theater-focused education facility with faculty offices.

The building is home to the School of Dramatic Arts where their 600 students prepare for the entertainment industry. At their disposal: The110-seat flexible Sanctuary Theater, the small Stop Gap cabaret theater for student productions, a digital media suite, voice practice rooms, audio design lab and mix room, rehearsal space, and acting classrooms. The building also houses the new Office of Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion, and a Career Center where students are able to record audition tapes.

User-determined flexible seating arrangements in the main theater required incorporation of acoustic reflectors and quiet background sound for elevated speech intelligibility and improved vocal coverage from actors without audio amplification.

While retaining many original historic features such as stained glass, wood trusses, and the Sanctuary roof, the project is pending LEED certification, including the acoustics credit.

MCH provided full-scope acoustical consulting on the project.